1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a shaft supporting structure for a fishing reel, and more particularly to a shaft supporting structure for a fishing reel in which a rotary element for winding a fishing line is supported through bearings.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional construction having bearings for supporting a rotary element for winding a fishing line a spool acting as the rotary element is mounted on a spool shaft to be rotatable therewith, and journals of the spool shaft are supported by the bearings. Each journal of the spool shaft, has an outer peripheral surface in contact with an entire inner peripheral surface of an inner race of one of the bearings (Japanese Utility Model Publication Kokai No. 1989-140261).
The construction in which each journal of the spool shaft contacts an entire area of the inner peripheral surface which acts as a receiving surface of the inner race of one of the bearings has the following drawback. Inspection has been made of the way in which the journals of the spool shaft rotate relative to the bearings. It has been found as a result that, when the spool is rotated freely without winding a fishing line or when the spool is rotated in a light load condition for casting a bait, for example, the inner race of each bearing does not rotate relative to the outer race but each journal of the spool shaft rotates relative to the inner peripheral surface of the inner race. This tendency is particularly notable at times of light load and low speed rotation.
Thus, a strong resistance acts on the rotation where each journal of the spool shaft is supported by an entire area of the inner peripheral surface of the inner race. There is room for improvement to diminish such resistance.